Vol. 20 No. 38 (2023): Spirituality & Health
Originalartikler

Adolescents, existence and Covid19: En kvalitativ undersøgelse af unges eksistentielle oplevelser under Covid19

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  • Aida Hougaard Andersen,
  • Dorte Toudal Viftrup,
  • Mads Bank
Aida Hougaard Andersen
Institut for Psykologi, SDU
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7146/tfss.v20i38.130260

Published 2023-06-20

How to Cite

Andersen, A. H., Viftrup, D. T., & Bank, M. (2023). Adolescents, existence and Covid19: En kvalitativ undersøgelse af unges eksistentielle oplevelser under Covid19. Tidsskrift for Forskning I Sygdom Og Samfund - Journal of Research in Sickness and Society, 20(38), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.7146/tfss.v20i38.130260
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Abstract

The Covid19-related societal lockdown can be seen as a crisis that can disrupt young people's conditions of being and clarify possible existential challenges. Covid19 lockdown can thus be used as a synchronous entrance to elucidate the existential dimensions of young people's lives, how they deal with crises and what psychological, social and well-being implications the changes in their living conditions have.  
The study therefore explores: How do young people experience themselves and what is important to them in life, and what existential themes emerge in relation to Covid19?
The study uses a qualitative research methodology. The analysis uses selected concepts from Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Buber and Martin Heidegger in interaction with the interview material for the interpretation of the participants' experiences.
Through semi-structured interviews, 19 young people were interviewed on Zoom in the first days after the schools opened after the second Covid19 shutdown. 16 girls and 6 boys between the age of 16 and 17 participated. The interviews lasted between 15 and 46 minutes.
The young people's description of Covid19 focused on the lockdown of society, and the resulting changes in their living-conditions made clear an alternative to a performance-oriented interpretation of life. The interpretation of the analytical themes suggests that the ethical sphere of life and the interpersonal encounter of an affective nature are crucial to young people's path through existential challenges and the experience of being and becoming themselves.
The findings can contribute to prioritization in pedagogical practice and to a general focus on the importance of existential health, and thus the prevention of reduced well-being and mental challenges among young people.

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